March 5, 2023 - Finding Beauty in a Season of Ashes - Pastor Paul Vallee

Jeremiah 30, Jeremiah Series God does and will address sin in our lives and our society as a whole. When God’s discipline occurs, it is very painful to bear. Despair and hopelessness often accompany that discipline. It is designed to bring us to the end of ourselves and cause us to look up. Robert Davidson explains this reality by taking the example of Jeremiah’s messages: “In Jeremiah’s day, the people of Judah had to be led to the point where they were stripped of all human resources before they were prepared to turn to the healing and renewing a power which God alone could give. It is an experience echoed across the centuries when people at the end of their rope, totally despairing, have found God, healing, and new life.” In the darkest hour and the moment of most tremendous pain, Jerusalem was devastated by siege, famine, and plague, where survivors were enslaved and taken into captivity and exile; God breathed a word of hope. God changes the message to help the people look past the present sorrow to a new day of hope because of the promise of God. Here we have the word of restoration being preached by Jeremiah. Scholars call chapters thirty to thirty-three the ‘book of comfort.’ It begins with a message of what God is about to accomplish through the discipline for their sinfulness, disobedience, and defiance, which ultimately will lead people to a place of humility and repentance, causing a message of renewal, revival, and restoration. In Jeremiah thirty, we discover three restoration elements that will come about in the ‘days ahead.’ Though the future never looked so bleak, God’s word presents a brighter picture for their tomorrow. God’s promises help us find beauty in the seasons of ashes in our lives.